1, 4-benzoquinone treatment of feathers



United States Patent 1,4-BENZOQUINONE TREATMENT OF FEATHERS Varsenig Z. Pasternak, Cincinnati, Ohio, assiguor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army No Drawing. Filed Apr. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 654,620

4 Claims. (Cl. 8-94.10)

This invention relates to a method of treating land fowl feathers, especially chicken feathers, to increase their filling power and resiliency, and to impart permanent curliness and water repellency, thereby making such feathers an acceptable Substitute for the standard down and feather mixture now in wide use for sleeping bags, comforters, etc. A further object is to employ a single chemical which will make the feathers resistant to moths and microbiological attack. A further object is to provide a treatment which is permanent enough to withstand the effects of several launderings. Other objects will be apparent from the following description of the method presently preferred by me.

In explanation of the expression filling power, reference may be made to the report entitled A Proposed Method for Measuring the Filling Power of Down and Feathers by Henry A. Sinski, publication No. TD103037, The Ofi'ice of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, and to the article by N. B. Edelman in Textile Research Journal, vol. 17, page 199 (April 1947), entitled Investigation of Methods for Determining the Filling Power of Feathers. See also the Sinski et al. Patent No. 2,706,910, dated April 26, 1955. Ordinarily, chicken feathers have a filling power of 1.8 to 2.1 cm, while the 40/60 down-feather mixture has a filling power of 5.3 to 5.9 cm.

The term feathers as used herein includes whole land fowl feathers of the desired size range, crushed (commercial curled) land fowl feathers, land fowl feather fibers, stripped land fowl feathers, and mixtures of these.

In the preferred procedure, the feathers, if not known to be entirely free from blood, are first soaked in a blood-solubilizing solution, such as Coagusol (a mixture of sodium hexametaphosphate and alcohol sulfate), which is a commercial haemolytic agent. After the soaking the solution is drained from the feathers and they are then laundered or dry cleaned. In laundering, preferably a detergent such as Tergitol NPX (alkyl phenyl ether of polyethylene glycol) is used (0.25% water solution at 110-125 F.). Other non-ionic detergents have been found to be satisfactory. In general, the non-ionic type of detergents should be used to obviate any action on the protein of the feathers. Laundering continues for about twenty minutes, then the solution is removed from the feathers by centrifuging or wringing. While a number of well known dry cleaning solutions could be used to clean the feathers, laundering is preferred because it is less expensive. Both laundering and dry cleaning may take place in the same vessel or container that is used during the blood-solubilizing step. Of course if the feathers as initially received are perfectly clean, the soaking and washing or dry cleaning may be omitted.

If the feathers are from immature chickens, the damp feathers from the described laundering or dry cleaning operation are placed in a 1% water solution of trisodium phosphate Na PO .12H O at 43-49 C. for about ten minutes. If feathers from mature chickens are being "ice processed, the phosphate treatment period is increased to about thirty minutes. This mild alkaline treatment of the feathers is believed to alter the stability of the feathers by modification of the cystine linkages in the keratin. This step is important because it materially increases the curliness of the feathers and it curls naturally uncurly mature feathers, thereby to increase the bulk value of the final feather product. Other suitably buffered alkaline solutions, for example, sodium carbonate or borax, may be used in lieu of the' phosphate solution mentioned above, but in all cases the time of the treatment must be less for immature feathers to avoid excessive degradation. Trisodium phosphate is preferred because of its quicker action due to a higher pH. It is believed that the higher concentration of cystine linkages in mature feathers enables them to resist the action of the alkaline solution for a longer period.

The data from a successful laboratory run at The Tanners Council Research Laboratory, University of Cincinnati, will now be given. A 70 gram batch of good quality chicken feathers was soaked in 1500 ml. of a 1% trisodium phosphate solution for thirty minutes at 42- 44 C. Then the feathers were rinsed and put in a bath of 1500 ml. of 0.4% water solution of 1,4-benzoquinone, and held there for one hour at 3037 C., with the pH mostly at 4.5 but ranging up to 5.5. The solution was then neutralized with a weak alkaline solution such as Na CO and the feathers were kept in the neutral solution for about ten minutes. The feathers were then rinsed, tumbled and dried. The filling power was 6.4 to 6.5.

Feathers so treated may be laundered and will retain their filling power. They were noticeably more stable than aldehyde-treated feathers.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. A method of treating land fowl feathers to enhance their filling power, which comprises modifying t e cystine linkage of the keratin of said land fowl feathers by immersing said feathers in an aqueous alkaline solution until their curliness is increased, rinsing said feathers after said immersion, then immersing said feathers in a dilute aqueous solution of 1,4-benzoquinone for about 1 hour at a temperature of 3037 C. and at a pH of about 4.5-5.5; neutralizing said 1,4-benzoquinone solution, removing the feathers from said 1,4-benzoquinone, and rinsing and drying them.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said aqueous alkaline solution is an approximately 1% solution of trisodium phosphate having a temperature of about 43 49 C.,' said immersion having a duration of about 10- 30 minutes.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said water solution of 1,4-benzoquinone has a strength of about 0.4%.

4. The product produced by the method of claim 1.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 998,370 Meunier July 18, 1911 2,129,219 Koga Sept. 6, 1938 2,389,292 Bjorksten Nov. 20, 1945 2,406,958 McQueen Sept. 3, 1946 2,521,738 McMeekin Sept. 12, 1950 2,706,143 Florio Apr. 12, 1955 2,805,913 Frederick Sept. 10, 1957 2,805,914 Frederick Sept. 10, 1957 OTHER REFERENCES Speakman: Iour. of the Textile Inst, September 1943, pp. T70-T76. 

1. A METHOD OF TREATING LAND FOWL FEATHERS TO ENHANCE THEIR FILLING POWER, WHICH COMPRISES MODIFYING THE CYSTINE LINKAGE OF THE KERATIN OF SAID LAND FOWL FEATHERS BY IMMERSING SAID FEATHERS IN AN AQUEOUS ALKALINE SOLUTION UNTIL THEIR CURLINESS IS INCREASED,RINSING SAID FEATHERS AFTER SAID IMMERSION,THEN IMMERSING SAID FEATHERS IN A DILUTE AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF 1,4-BENZOQUINONE FOR ABOUT 1 HOUR AT A TEMPERATURE OF 30*-37*C. AND AT A PH OF ABOUT 4.5-5.5, NEUTRALIZING SAID 1,4-BENZOQUINONE SOLUTION, REMOVING THE FEATHERS FROM SAID 1,4-BENZOQUINONE, AND RINSING AND DRYING THEM. 